Little Rock McClellan prepared for one heavyweight by taking down a rising contender Tuesday night.
The Lions overcame several moments of sloppiness and periods of cold shooting to grind out a 76-71 victory over eStem at the Nutt Athletic Complex.
"If it's a conference game, you've got to figure out a way to win," McClellan Coach Chris Threatt said. "If it's ugly, pretty, whatever it is, you've got to gut it out. We had turnovers, we were in foul trouble, we missed shots, but we still found a way."
Junior guard Eric Woods finished with a game-high 18 points for McClellan (13-5, 6-1 4A-5), which took several punches from eStem before ultimately delivering the crushing blows over the game's final two minutes. The Lions, who've won 5 games in a row and 7 of their past 8, also got 12 points and 12 rebounds from senior forward James Nichols and 11 points and 7 rebounds from senior guard Elijah Green.
The victory kept the Lions a game back of first-place Mills (14-4, 7-0) heading into Thursday's showdown. The Comets have won six of their seven conference games by at least 10 points.
There were 11 ties and 17 lead changes in Tuesday's game. The lead changed hands seven times alone in the second quarter until two free throws from junior guard K.J. Martin started a quarter-ending run that gave the Mets a 36-30 lead at halftime.
Junior guard Jacob Sanders had 16 points for eStem (15-9, 4-3), while junior forward Derrick Caffey added 10. Sophomore guard Jaylon Smith scored 10 points for the Mets.
Sports on 01/16/2019